Could fatal fire have been avoided?

Published: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 9:32 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 9:32 p.m.

A New Orleans-based government watchdog group has filed a complaint against the state Fire Marshal's Office over how it responded to safety concerns at a Grand Isle apartment complex months before two of its residents died in a fire.

Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche, who filed the complaint with the state Inspector General's Office, said the Fire Marshal's Office didn't follow its own protocol investigating those safety concerns six months before the fire, leaving them unresolved.

The Fire Marshal's Office was the subject of a November report by the Inspector General's Office that detailed improper inspections and other mismanagement. That report also stemmed from a complaint by the Metropolitan Crime Commission.

Inspectors from the Fire Marshal's Office failed to detect mechanical problems with a carnival ride seven hours before the ride malfunctioned, injuring two teens in Greensburg in May 2011, the report says.

“Is the Fire Marshal's Office capable of performing to its own internal policies and procedures acting on public safety complaints?” Goyeneche asked.

The latest inquiry centers around a complaint addressed to the Fire Marshal's Office from Grand Isle resident Milton Bourgeois, who lives near Willow Creek Apartments, and another resident in May.

Bourgeois said he felt the structure hadn't been adequately repaired since Hurricane Katrina, and he added the building was a fire and health hazard.

Bourgeois' complaint references missing doors, missing window air-conditioners and missing windows. He called the building an “extreme fire hazard.”

His letter requests a formal inspection.

In the months following, the complex came under different ownership that did make attempts to fix the place, Bourgeois said.

Fire Marshal's Office correspondence initially obtained through a public-records request shows there were two visits by an inspector to the complex following the initial complaint.

The inspector was unable to contact management at the complex, according to the correspondence. He made brief contact with a resident and verbally confirmed he had a smoke detector. No formal inspection was conducted on the visits. Bourgeois also said he was never contacted by the Fire Marshal's Office about the complaint.

The office correspondence between the inspector and his supervisors suggest the inspector was waiting to do a joint inspection with Jefferson Parish Code Enforcement and Grand Isle Fire Department that never happened.

Goyeneche contends governing documents for the Fire Marshal's Office require a thorough investigation in response to such a complaint.

Officials with the Fire Marshal's Office couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

“I can't say if (the inspection) had occurred the fire wouldn't have happened and those two people wouldn't have died,” Goyeneche said.

Investigators never determined exactly what caused the fire. They suspect it began when plastic storage containers right outside the building caught fire, Deputy Chief Brant Thompson of the state Fire Marshal's Office said in the weeks following the fire.

Those containers were below the balcony that serves as the only exit to the victims' apartments. The balcony and the victims' apartments burned in the fire.

The investigation also found both victims tried to use fire extinguishers to quell the flames.

Nancy Butzlaff, Brandl's sister, said the victim had complained previously about the apartment having only one exit.

“She was just afraid that she would be trapped because there was no exit out of the place,” Butzlaff said Wednesday.

Closure has been hard to come by for Butzlaff, who lives in Green Bay, Wis. She was unaware of the initial investigation's results and said she is waiting for the Fire Marshal's Office to explain the results since interviewing her two months ago.

The State Inspector General's Office would not comment on the complaint.

<p>A New Orleans-based government watchdog group has filed a complaint against the state Fire Marshal's Office over how it responded to safety concerns at a Grand Isle apartment complex months before two of its residents died in a fire.</p><p>The Metropolitan Crime Commission alleges the Fire Marshal's Office improperly handled concerns of a neighbor to the Willow Creek Apartments, which caught fire Sept. 27. The fire claimed the lives of Timothy Foret, 46, and Belle Christin Brandl, 60, who lived in separate apartments there.</p><p>Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche, who filed the complaint with the state Inspector General's Office, said the Fire Marshal's Office didn't follow its own protocol investigating those safety concerns six months before the fire, leaving them unresolved.</p><p>The Fire Marshal's Office was the subject of a November report by the Inspector General's Office that detailed improper inspections and other mismanagement. That report also stemmed from a complaint by the Metropolitan Crime Commission.</p><p>Inspectors from the Fire Marshal's Office failed to detect mechanical problems with a carnival ride seven hours before the ride malfunctioned, injuring two teens in Greensburg in May 2011, the report says.</p><p>“Is the Fire Marshal's Office capable of performing to its own internal policies and procedures acting on public safety complaints?” Goyeneche asked.</p><p>The latest inquiry centers around a complaint addressed to the Fire Marshal's Office from Grand Isle resident Milton Bourgeois, who lives near Willow Creek Apartments, and another resident in May.</p><p>Bourgeois said he felt the structure hadn't been adequately repaired since Hurricane Katrina, and he added the building was a fire and health hazard.</p><p>Bourgeois' complaint references missing doors, missing window air-conditioners and missing windows. He called the building an “extreme fire hazard.”</p><p>His letter requests a formal inspection.</p><p>In the months following, the complex came under different ownership that did make attempts to fix the place, Bourgeois said.</p><p>Fire Marshal's Office correspondence initially obtained through a public-records request shows there were two visits by an inspector to the complex following the initial complaint.</p><p>The inspector was unable to contact management at the complex, according to the correspondence. He made brief contact with a resident and verbally confirmed he had a smoke detector. No formal inspection was conducted on the visits. Bourgeois also said he was never contacted by the Fire Marshal's Office about the complaint.</p><p>The office correspondence between the inspector and his supervisors suggest the inspector was waiting to do a joint inspection with Jefferson Parish Code Enforcement and Grand Isle Fire Department that never happened.</p><p>Goyeneche contends governing documents for the Fire Marshal's Office require a thorough investigation in response to such a complaint.</p><p>Officials with the Fire Marshal's Office couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.</p><p>“I can't say if (the inspection) had occurred the fire wouldn't have happened and those two people wouldn't have died,” Goyeneche said.</p><p>Investigators never determined exactly what caused the fire. They suspect it began when plastic storage containers right outside the building caught fire, Deputy Chief Brant Thompson of the state Fire Marshal's Office said in the weeks following the fire.</p><p>Those containers were below the balcony that serves as the only exit to the victims' apartments. The balcony and the victims' apartments burned in the fire.</p><p>The investigation also found both victims tried to use fire extinguishers to quell the flames.</p><p>Nancy Butzlaff, Brandl's sister, said the victim had complained previously about the apartment having only one exit.</p><p>“She was just afraid that she would be trapped because there was no exit out of the place,” Butzlaff said Wednesday.</p><p>Closure has been hard to come by for Butzlaff, who lives in Green Bay, Wis. She was unaware of the initial investigation's results and said she is waiting for the Fire Marshal's Office to explain the results since interviewing her two months ago.</p><p>The State Inspector General's Office would not comment on the complaint.</p>